Many companies have initiatives or programs designed to enhance the diversity and inclusiveness of their workforce or applicant pools. To implement and evaluate the success of these programs, companies often must collect, use, and store personal information about their employees and applicants, such as race, gender, and ethnicity. In some jurisdictions, these types of personal information may be subject to special requirements and restrictions. For example, in countries across the EU, there are restrictions on the use of “sensitive” or “special categories” of personal information, which include race, disability, and sexual orientation.

The webinar explores the ethical and privacy implications of corporate diversity and inclusion programs, with a focus on GDPR restrictions and requirements. It also discusses best practice solutions that can help companies protect individual privacy interests while still advancing a global diversity and inclusion agenda.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a Request for Information (RFI) regarding how the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules could be modified to reduce regulatory burdens and to improve care coordination, case management, and value-based health care.

In addition to opening the door for public comments on current challenges and potential modifications to the HIPAA Rules, the RFI specifically requests feedback on anticipated changes to several specific provisions of the Privacy Rule including: Continue Reading

Amid the constitutional and political uncertainties surrounding the Brexit process, the UK Government has provided welcome assurance on the data protection front. Guidance issued by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) confirms how UK data protection law will work in the event the UK leaves the EU without a deal. Whilst the Government still regards a No Deal Brexit as “unlikely”, given the extremely severe implications of that scenario for transfers of personal data into and out of the UK, the DCMS confirmation is hugely helpful in terms of the preparations needed for that eventuality. Continue Reading

One of the most controversial elements of the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) is the establishment of an “anti-discrimination” right – businesses may not “discriminate” against consumers for exercising certain rights under the CCPA, and they will need to assess whether and how they can require consumers to accept certain data practices as a condition of service. Compliance would be challenging even if the provision were articulated clearly, but as we have discussed in this blog series, the accelerated drafting process and passage of the CCPA earlier this year left little time for public comment and responsive amendments. As a result, the law includes a series of ambiguities that complicate compliance, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the anti-discrimination provision.

This entry in Hogan Lovells’ ongoing series on the CCPA focuses on the law’s anti-discrimination clause, its ambiguities and potentially contradictory provisions, and impact on businesses. Continue Reading

On December 4, 2018, the New York Attorney General (NYAG) announced that Oath Inc., which was known until June 2017 as AOL Inc. (AOL), has agreed to pay a $4.95 million civil penalty to settle allegations that AOL’s ad exchange practices violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The $4.95 million penalty is the largest ever assessed by any regulator in a COPPA enforcement matter. Continue Reading

The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”) exempts information that is collected, processed, sold, or disclosed pursuant to the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (“GLBA”), and its implementing regulations (the “Privacy Rule”), or the California Financial Information Privacy Act (“CFIPA”). It does not exempt financial institutions altogether from its requirements where a financial institution is processing information not subject to these regimes. In such situations, a financial institution must comply with a wide array of CCPA obligations, including requirements to make certain disclosures to consumers and to provide certain rights to consumers, such as the right to stop “sales” of their personal information and the right to access data that a business has collected about them. Determining whether information a financial institution processes is covered by the exemption or not can be challenging and is something that financial institutions will need to analyze for their operations.

This blog post provides background on the scope of the exemption and an overview of key considerations for financial institutions developing CCPA compliance programs. Continue Reading

The EU General Data Protection Regulation is now a fully functioning six-month old creature, which has brought with it significant evolutionary changes. One of the most notable innovations of the new European data protection framework is its ambitious extra-territorial application. The introduction of brand new grounds for the applicability of the law was a major development.

As a result, and as essential as this is, the GDPR’s territorial scope of application has become one of the most difficult issues to pin down. Therefore, the publication of the European Data Protection Board’s draft guidelines on the territorial scope of the GDPR marks an important milestone in understanding the implications of this influential framework.

It is fair to say that the publication of regulatory guidance always generates some trepidation. Will it match our current understanding of the law? Will it be pragmatic? Will it be strict? Or a bit of both? Given the consequences of determining whether the GDPR applies or not to any given data activities, it is crucial to get this issue right.

In the digital age, data is everything. “Big Data” feeds countless business processes and offerings. Businesses rely on data to enhance revenue and drive efficiency, whether by better understanding the needs of existing customers, reaching new ones in previously unimagined ways, or obtaining valuable insights to guide a wide array of decisions. Data also drives developments in artificial intelligence, automation, and the Internet of Things.

Come 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) may significantly impact businesses’ data practices, with new and burdensome compliance obligations such as “sale” opt-out requirements and, in certain circumstances, restrictions on tiered pricing and service levels. The breadth of personal information covered by the CCPA, going beyond what is typically covered by U.S. privacy laws, will complicate compliance and business operations.

This entry in Hogan Lovells’ ongoing series on the CCPA will focus on implications for data-driven businesses–the rapidly increasing number of businesses that rely heavily on consumer data, whether for marketing, gaining marketplace insights, internal research, or use as a core commodity. Continue Reading

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has recently published its Opinion on the (United Kingdom) Information Commissioner’s list of processing activities which would require a Data Protection Impact Assessment under the GDPR. Nicola Fulford and Louisa Williams report.

In its Opinion, the EDPB appears to be moving away from the idea that processing of genetic or loca­tion data, on its own, might be enough to trigger the mandatory DPIA requirements of the GDPR. This news will perhaps come as a relief to organi­sations currently struggling to come to grips with the “new” DPIA process and the resources and time that it demands. But, should we be surprised by the EDPB’s Opinion and will it have a significant impact in practice on the way organisations consider and conduct DPIAs? Continue Reading

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